The five-part “Bromo Speaks” radio series, examining the development and transformation of a downtown Baltimore landmark, airs on WEAA’s Marc Steiner Show. Continue Reading UMBC humanities students produce radio series exploring history and culture of Baltimore’s Bromo Arts District
Kimberly Moffitt, an associate professor of American studies, was a guest on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show on November 30 to discuss several local and national topics in the news. Moffitt, who is a frequent guest host on the program, participated in roundtable discussions on topics ranging from local elections to media coverage surrounding the shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic last week. In the local news roundtable portion of the program, Moffitt joined Luke Broadwater, a Baltimore Sun reporter, A. Rod Womack, author of Redwood and former owner of the Redwood Grill in Baltimore, and Richard Vatz, professor of rhetoric and communication at Towson University’s Department of… Continue Reading Kimberly Moffitt analyzes the Freddie Gray case and upcoming local elections on The Marc Steiner Show
For 125 years, Baltimore’s Sparrows Point Steel Mill employed tens of thousands of steel workers and was a center of community life in the region. At one point the mill was the world’s largest steel producer, but after peaking in the 1960s it began a gradual decline, permanently closing its doors in 2012. Since then, UMBC students and faculty have worked to safeguard the heritage of the mill community and to amplify the voices and stories of Sparrows Point. This work has served as the springboard for a larger, ongoing project to preserve Baltimore history in neighborhoods across the city.… Continue Reading Starting at Sparrows Point, humanities research amplifies voices and histories of Baltimore communities
Following the November 10 Republican presidential debate on Fox Business Network, Kimberly Moffitt, an associate professor of American studies, was a guest on the Baltimore Sun’s “Roughly Speaking” podcast to provide reaction and analysis. Other guests on the podcast hosted by Dan Rodricks included Melissa Deckman, chair and professor of political science at Washington College, and Peter Jensen from the Baltimore Sun editorial board. The segment covered a range of topics, including how candidates received more equal air time than prior debates and were given a chance to cover differences in several significant policy issues. “There has been so much attention drawn to the… Continue Reading Kimberly Moffitt discusses GOP presidential debate and impact of social media on student activism
Following the October 28 Republican presidential debate on CNBC, Kimberly Moffitt, an associate professor of American studies, moderated a panel on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show analyzing the performance of the candidates and how it affected the campaign for the Republican nomination. Panelists included Eugene Craig III, a grassroots activist and 3rd Vice-Chair of the Maryland Republican State Party, Catalina Byrd, media consultant and political strategist, and Charles Ellison, political strategist and Host of The Ellison Report, new on WEAA 88.9FM. Moffitt led the discussion on a host of issues, including key takeaways from the debate, which candidates gained momentum, the line of questioning… Continue Reading Kimberly Moffitt moderates GOP presidential debate panel on Marc Steiner Show
As #BlackLivesMatter continues to grow on social media, ABC 2 TV in Baltimore recently hosted Kimberly Moffitt for a discussion to explain how the movement has spread and how it is different from the Civil Rights Movement. Moffitt, an associate professor of American studies, noted that social media has changed the way in which messages and viewpoints are shared through expanded access. “That’s the space that we’re in now with social media that anyone has access to the platform,” she said. She explained that during the Civil Rights Movement, people would often gather at local churches, community centers, homes, and… Continue Reading Kimberly Moffitt, American Studies, Discusses Growth of #BlackLivesMatter on ABC 2 Baltimore
Humanities Forum Kimberly Moffitt, Dresher Center fellow and associate professor of American studies, UMBC Damon Turner, adjunct professor in Africana studies, UMBC and PhD Candidate in African American history, Morgan State University Thursday, September 24 | 7 pm Performing Arts & Humanities Building : Rm. 132 The film Dear White People follows the lives of four black students at an Ivy League college. Director and writer Justin Simien says, “My film is about identity. It’s about the difference between how the mass culture responds to a person because of their race and who that person understands themselves to truly be.… Continue Reading Humanities Forum: Dear White People: Film Screening and Conversation (9/24)
Humanities Forum Eduardo López, television producer, journalist and documentarian Thursday, September 17 | 5:30 pm New location: Performing Arts and Humanities Building Room 132 The rapid growth of the nation’s Latino community has sparked heated national debate over immigration, yet the reality is that many of us know little about the Latin American roots of migration. In this talk, based on his award-winning documentary, Harvest of Empire, Eduardo López examines the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis we face today, unveiling a moving human story that is largely unknown to the great majority of… Continue Reading Humanities Forum: Harvest of Empire: The Untold Story of Latinos in America (9/17)
Joe Jones remembers the day vividly. After attending Freddie Gray’s funeral at New Shiloh Baptist Church on April 27, 2015, he walked to his office across the street at the Center for Urban Families (CFUF) and found his staff gathered around a television watching CNN footage of unrest just blocks away. As he shared that experience with a crowd of UMBC faculty, staff, and student leaders four months later, he emphasized that two words came to mind as CFUF planned how to move forward with community-building in Baltimore: respect and trust. Jones ‘06, social work, was one of six UMBC… Continue Reading How we rebuild: UMBC alumni on supporting Baltimore communities
On July 30, a longtime music and arts space in Station North closed its doors permanently. The Hour Haus served as a music practice facility and performance venue for 25 years. American studies student Adam Droneburg produced an hour-long audio documentary which recently aired on WYPR’s The Signal. Dan Goodrich, an interdisciplinary studies major, collaborated with Droneburg on the project and provided photography. The two students took an American studies course in the spring, “Community in America,” which focused on oral history/audio/mapping work in Station North. The class was funded by a Hrabowski Innovation Grant. Droneburg and Goodrich continued working in Station… Continue Reading UMBC Students Collaborate to Produce Audio Documentary About Station North’s Hour Haus on WYPR
Clifford Murphy, an adjunct lecturer of American studies, has been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to be its new director of folk and traditional arts. Murphy, an adjunct lecturer of American studies, will manage NEA grantmaking in folk and traditional arts, oversee the NEA National Heritage Fellowship program, and represent the agency in the field as part of the new role. Murphy is currently director of Maryland Traditions, the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) and last year helped bring MSAC’s 40 years of folklife archives into UMBC’s library system, making the collection available to the… Continue Reading Clifford Murphy, American Studies, Selected for National Arts Director Position
As part of its latest major grant cycle, the Maryland Humanities Council awarded UMBC a $10,000 grant for “Mapping Dialogues,” a project that focuses on the history and culture of the Baybrook and Sparrows Point communities. Working with industrial neighborhoods in Baltimore, the project uses maps as starting points for discussions on the past, present, and future of industrial space. The project centers on two historically interrelated yet geographically separate areas: Baybrook in the southern tip of Baltimore and the Sparrows Point Steel Mill communities situated just across the southwestern city border in Baltimore County. Dialogues will be held with… Continue Reading UMBC Awarded Maryland Humanities Council Grant for “Mapping Dialogues” Project
